How badly will they affect my tone? Ill probably be getting braces this spring or summer, and Im a little hesitant because I dont know how they will change my playing ability. Anyone have experience in this area?

Braces for brass players are usually very bad news - with the possible exception of tuba! If you use any pressure you probably wont be able to play unless the braces are detachable. If you relearn to play without pressure you may be able to play a bit but with restricted range. Talk to your teacher.

I had only been playing my horn for a year when I had braces put on, and it took months to work back up my ambiture. Now, I'm a sophomore sitting 2nd chair in the top band, still with braces, don't think about braces as a death sentance to your tone. My director has actually told me several times that i have the best tone in our section. I recomend using wax the first few months and gradually loosening you need for them. Your mouth will readjust eventually, just work on it and you can even get better. Best of luck!

Lucky for me, I think my dad forgot that he said he'd be looooking into getting me braces this month, so I get get a few more months to play my horn as usual before the braces, in I'm lucky.

I meant IF I'm lucky.

i play the mellophone in marching band, and i got braces early in the season this past fall. maybe i had it easy because i'm not very experienced with brass so i'm not set in my ways, but after the first day, when my director told me to not even try to play, i didn't have many issues. i got them put on on a wednesday, and played at the football game that friday. i did hvae a tendency to be out of tune, but i had that problem already. it just got a little worse. however, i don't play the real french horn [yet!] so i don't know how different it will be. wax is a life-saver, for sure. don't worry, it can't be as bad as i'm sure you're immagining it will be!

FWIW, our amazing first chair horn player just got his braces off last spring. he's a senior- he was first chair before that, with the braces.

Yeah, don't worry about it, just DON'T use pressure. That's really bad, my little sister has braces (I have the pleasure of having straigh teeth) and I know that they bend pretty easy. It's just a matter of how well you get used to them. Whatever you do, don't, I repeat, don't use much pressure, I've never had braces, but I'm pretty sure that it'd be really bad for your lips to be squeezed in between braces and a mouthpiece.

Okay, well, heh, I got halfway lucky, I got my braces and THEN learned horn. But in your case, I don't think they'll kill you.. Too.. Bad. You should practice AS MUCH AS HUMANLY POSSIBLE, really- it'll hurt like heck, and you need to make sure you don't cut your lips open, 'cause then you can't practice tomorrow, but you really should. What it did to me, though, for trumpet, was it pretty much sent me back six years. (I've been playing seven.) So I had to go to lessons and practice the freaking B flat scale. And two line songs. And you'll probably feel like it's hopeless. But after a month or so, you should be right back where you were before you got them on.

There're not too bad as long as you stay positive. I was negative for about 3 months so I played like crap for 3 months.

Then I started practicing like everyday, which is really neccesary. Practice lip slurs and buzz on your mouthpiece. With braces, for me it was positive; it forces you to use air and not pressure to get up to those notes. You'll know if you use pressure because you get these marks on your upper lip, and if it bleeds seriously you need to stop and force yourself not to put pressure. Now when I play, I only get a slight indent on my upper lip, but no visible marks or pain at all.

Just practice and be positive and you'll be fine. Don't worry if you can't play right after you get them on or tightened, they get a lot better.

really I think it varies, I was playing mellophone again three days later, if not all practice because it hurt, but by the next week or so I was back to normal. however I have a friend who recently got braces, mid february, and still can't play quite up to his previous level. he got demoted about six chairs (he was first in the 2nd highest band) because it was right before a concert, and so he couldnt play the solo he'd been working on. it was very sad

i just got braces and frankly, tone is the last thing i'm worrying about. i'm a euph/trombone (well not really, i just got a trombone and it's the wrong bore) and i used to be able to hit a high g with decent enough consistency, but now im down to a middle c. the braces just stop my vibrations if i go higher than that. people complain that it hurts, but my lips can't even buzz without causing air pockets.

I still don't know how to fix my problem, so i really can't be of much help. :P

I have several students with braces. It should not make too much of a difference. Tone is always of most importance to me. Anyone can work out a difficult passage if they need to, but tone is not something you can go home and work out in an hour. It is a building block of playing an instrument. With proper posture and a proper embouchre you will have a nice tone and other things like slurs and articulation will be easier.

John

for me at least, it's not really tone that's a problem. It's the limited range. i know it'll get better, i shouldn't worry, i'll soon pass up my previous range blah blah blah, but it's annoying right now at any rate. it takes time to get used to :P